Brewer's Minute: 10 Commander Combos—Blue

Hey, everyone! It's time for another Brewer's Minute! This week, we're going to revisit one of the most popular topics on Brewer's Minute—combos—except this time, we have a twist. Instead of talking about Modern or Standard, we're going to talk about combos for Commander! While all of these combos are legal for casual Legacy play as well, the big reason we're discussing these combos is because they are legal in mono-blue (and any color combination with blue) decks in Commander. So, if you're looking for something spicy to slot into your blue-based Commander decks, we've got some ideas for you!

#10: Tunnel Vision and Hinder

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Tunnel Vision is a weird card, but it works especially well in Commander because all cards are one-ofs. This means if you can know what card is at the bottom of your opponent's library, perhaps with Hinder, Vendilion Clique, or Proteus Staff, all you need to do is resolve Tunnel Vision and you'll mill away your opponent's entire library except for one card. This puts the opponent on a one-turn clock, since they'll quickly die to drawing on an empty library. Then, with the help of cards like Snapcaster Mage and Mnemonic Wall, you can get your combo pieces back from the graveyard and turn them toward another player!

#9: Power Artifact + Grim Monolith / Basalt Monolith

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Power Artifact with either Grim Monolith or Basalt Monolith is a simple infinite-mana combo. All you need to do is enchant either Monolith with Power Artifact, and the end result is an artifact that can tap itself for a lot of mana and then untap itself for a little mana, thanks to Power Artifact reducing the cost of the activated ability. For example, if you get Power Artifact on Basalt Monolith, you can tap Basalt Monolith for three mana and then untap it for just a single mana, netting you two mana and allowing you to repeat the process for infinite colorless mana!

#8: Palinchron + Phantasmal Image

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I promise we aren't just talking about infinite mana combos today, but we do have one more sweet one, so we might as well get it out of the way: Palinchron with Phantasmal Image (along with seven or more lands). The idea here is that you get Palinchron on the battlefield and then use Phantasmal Image to copy the Palinchron, untapping seven of your lands. Then, you can spend four mana to bounce the Phantasmal ImagePalinchron and cast it again for two mana to copy the first Palinchron to untap all of your lands again. The end result is that every time you cast and bounce Phantasmal Image, you can make seven mana but only spend six, netting one mana in the process, which gives you infinite mana of any color a land you control could produce!

#7: Banishing Knack + Darksteel Relic + Mirran Spy

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This combo is a little convoluted, but it is a way to generate infinite storm count in a mono-blue deck. The plan is to use Banishing Knack (or its functional reprint Retraction Helix) to target a Mirran Spy (or Battered Golem) and have a zero-mana artifact like Darksteel Relic on the battlefield. We can then use the Mirran Spy to bounce the Darksteel Relic and recast it for free since it's zero mana, which untaps the Mirran Spy and lets us repeat the process again and again. The end result is infinite storm, which we can then use to kill our opponents with something like Brain Freeze. It's also worth mentioning that if the zero-mana artifact is a creature like Memnite or Ornithopter, the combo can trigger enters-the-battlefield abilities an infinite number of times (which can be relevant if you are playing something like Impact Tremors or Purphoros, God of the Forge).

#6: Shuko + Cephalid Aristocrat / Cephalid Illusionist

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This ones pretty simple: get a Cephalid Aristocrat or Cephalid Illusionist on the battlefield and then use a zero-equip equipment like Shuko to keep targeting the Cephalid over and over again for free. This allows you to mill your entire deck (or as much of your deck as you choose). Then, you can win with Laboratory Maniac or just use your graveyard for value and reanimation!

#4: Patron of the Moon + Amulet of Vigor + Storm Cauldron

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On level one, this is another infinite-mana combo. You use Patron of the Moon to put two lands into play tapped, Amulet of Vigor untaps them, you tap the lands for mana, and then Storm Cauldron bounces the lands back to your hand so you can pay one with Patron of the Moon to do it all over again, netting a mana in the process. However, this combo also generates infinite landfall (so you can mill your opponents out with something like Hedron Crab) or infinite damage, if you have Sunscorched Desert as one of the lands you keep bouncing and replaying!

#2: Beacon of Tomorrows + Manipulate Fate + Mirror of Fate

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I intentionally tried to stay away from infinite-turns combos because I don't think they make for especially fun games of Commander, but this one is so janky I had to include it. If you're playing Fate Tribal and looking for a way to go infinite, this is probably your best option. The plan is to exile Beacon of Tomorrows with Manipulate Fate. Then, you use Mirror of Fate to exile your library and put Beacon of Tomorrows back into your library (making it the only card left in your deck). Then, you draw and cast Beacon of Tomorrows every turn for infinite turns. Just make sure you have a plan for winning the game because you just exiled away your library, which means if something goes wrong, you'll probably lose by decking yourself!

#1: Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir + Knowledge Pool

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It's sort of traditional to end these lists with a combo that locks opponents out of playing Magic, and for Mono-Blue decks, the best way to go is Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir with Knowledge Pool. The combo here is simple: Teferi makes it so opponents can only cast spells as sorceries, and Knowledge Pool makes it so opponents can't cast spells as sorceries (because whenever an opponent casts a spell, a Knowledge Pool trigger goes on the stack, which would normally let the opponent cast a card from under Knowledge Pool, but since a trigger is on the stack, the spell would be considered an instant, so Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir locks it down). The end result is that except for weird things like flashback (and other spells that aren't cast from opponents' hands), your opponents can't play spells, while you can still play Magic as Garfield intended.

Conclusion

Anyway, that's all for today. What's your favorite mono-blue Commander combo? Let me know in the comments! As always, leave your thoughts, ideas, opinions, and suggestions, and you can reach me on Twitter @SaffronOlive or at SaffronOlive@MTGGoldfish.com.

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